Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday

This week's pick is Divergent by Veronica Roth, coming May 2011 from Katherine Tegen Books.

Summary: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen.

But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her.

My Thoughts: Everything about this premise screams freaking awesome. The factions based on virtues? Brilliant. That's taking something that we deem, now, to be good things and twisting them to something not so bright and shiny and great. Add in the fact that Beatrice loses her family if she picks something else? Instant drama and intrigue. And then it continues, with the tests and initiations and oh, wait, is that a boy? Why yes, I believe it might be. Then we find out that there's a big secret that could destroy everything? I am so in for this one and cannot wait. This one just screams epitome of brilliant, awesome dystopian. Oh and that cover?Fan. Frickin. Tastic.